The EverChanging Moon
by redsoxgirl
Summary: It is strange that two woman fall in love with the same man and it is even more peculiar that they are sisters and both promised his hand in marriage. The tale of two sister Ariadne and Phaedra and this is their story from beginning to end.


Ariadne and Phaedra sat motionless in their seats. Phaedra had stopped breathing awhile ago and she was only beginning to feel the effect. Her palms started sweating and at every second her face seemed to drop in color. Phaedra's once tan features were now a deathly pale mask. Ariadne gave her a concerned look, but words wouldn't form. The dark haired maiden watched as her sister grew worse and worse, the whole while Ariadne's eyes were growing to the size of saucers.

A thud came as Phaedra toppled off her chair and landed on the ground. Breath rushed backed into her lungs, giving her a coughing fit. Her hair and clothes were tousled and the expression on her face was ridiculous. Ariadne responded with a high pitched peals of laughter. Tears leaking out of her eyes, she rocked back and forth. Phaedra huffed and scrambled back onto her chair, trying to regain the composure she never had.

"You think it's funny don't you?" Ariadne responded with more ridiculous laughter. "Hasn't anyone ever told you that you laugh like a hyena."

Ariadne stopped mid chortle, sounding more like a snorting horse than a princess. It was Phaedra's turn to burst into a fit of laughter and she didn't disappoint. She laughed so hard she fell right off her chair again, causing Ariadne to join in with her absurd hyena laughter.

"What's all this laughing about? I thought you two were going to break down in hysterical crying and all I get is hysterical laughter. I am so disappointed in the two of you." Androgeus grinned at the pair, his mocking tone coming off as more pleasant teasing. Ariadne immediately clamped her mouth shut and so did Phaedra, but she couldn't help but emit a fairly girlish giggle.

"If you really wanted me to I bet I could break down and sob," Ariadne replied as she flashed him a devilish grin.

"Don't you think I already know how well you can throw a fake crying fit. It's already roped me into a few unpleasant tasks." Androgeus collapsed on an adjacent chaise. He stretched out his limbs, yawned and placed his hands behind his head. "You know I'm actually surprised you two took this so well. The first time I heard about it I fainted. Well, they did go into detail of what actually happened."

"Yes, yes and some things are better left unsaid. I really don't need to know how mother got pregnant by a white bull." Phaedra muttered darkly, giving Androgeus a death glare. "I really don't," she added for affirmation.

"All right. I wasn't planning on telling you anyway. I don't want to scar my naïve and pure younger sisters so early in their life. Sooner or later that is all going to change and we'll have a lot of problems on our hands." Phaedra scoffed and slapped him over the head. "Sorry, sorry," he added quickly as she prepared to hit him again.

"We're already more mature than you anyway. I think we can handle a lot of things that would corrupt us, in a matter of speaking, that you can not." Ariadne said, purposefully examining her delicate fingers. Androgeus gave her look.

"Are you hinting that you aren't so pure and innocent anymore?" When the thought came to the fore front of his mind, he shot up. He looked Ariadne up and down as if he was seeing her for the first time. She was pointedly looking anywhere but at him, but a small smile had begun to form. "You are so childish Ariadne. You scared the living daylight's out of me." He collapsed back onto the chaise with a gruff snort.

Phaedra sighed and rolled her eyes at the two of them. With a voice that sounded like a gurgling stream she said, "You two can be so immature at times. It's almost pointless to intervene since you start up the same antics a minute later." A comfortable silence came over the room before Phaedra asked the question that no one else wanted to, but it was needed nonetheless. "Is father going to let the bull man live?"

The mood instantly changed and a solemn expression was seen on each of their faces. It was as if the weight of the world was on their shoulders just how Atlas held up the sky and the earth. The tense atmosphere was broken by a shattering of a urn as a maid slipped and fell into their room. Androgeus bolted from his seat and helped the maiden up telling her he would take care of the mess.

"We'll talk about it later," he said quickly to Phaedra before gathering up the broken ceramic and exiting through the open door. Silence consumed the room once more, casting an uncomfortable atmosphere.

"I think we should talk with Daedalus, he would have some idea what father might be thinking." Ariadne paused gathering courage to utter the next words. "Maybe he'll tell us what really happened too. No one knows the whole story besides our parents, Androgeus and Daedalus. Not even the servants know the whole truth. I think we have a right to know about this."

"Some things are better left alone, Aridane." She paused and contemplated the situation. Ariadne waited with baited breath. "But all the same, it is our family, isn't it? I assume we have some right in that matter and well, we assume too much. Blaming mother for everything when maybe someone else is too blame. Women, especially intelligent queens, don't usually fall madly in love with snow white bulls."

"Exactly my point Phaedra. There's something we don't know that we should know. We're princesses of Crete and deserve the truth if we are ever going to proudly proclaim that we are Cretans. It's better to know the whole story if we want to defend our mother in any way. Spouting off half researched facts is the first step to looking like a fool."

The other girl sighed in response, barely able to contain her annoyance in her sister's passionate speech. With a monotone voice and a bored expression she replied, "You've been listening in on Androgeus' private lessons again, haven't you?"

Ariadne blushed in response and began to shift on the spot. "Just because our brother is going to become King doesn't mean he's the only one that deserves a fine education. I find politics and history the most entertaining. Did you know that we are descended from Zeus and Io, who happened to have spent time as a bovine?"

"Utterly preposterous," She replied. "I thought that was only a myth, that story has been passed down from generation to generation but I never believed a word of it. You learned that in history didn't you? What kind of research is that, teaching myths in history?"

"It is true. I know it. Anyway you can't be calling me ridiculous for believing in those lessons you yourself drop in when they start discussing finance, census and boring facts about the kingdom. At least what I enjoy can be entertaining all you care about is tedious, dull, tiresome facts that are useless."

"Useless? Useless! At least I'm interested in things that aren't false and based on obscure writings on walls. You believe in true love, happily ever afters, pure goodness of all people and that the gods do care about us lowly mortals. Well none of it is true, you are disillusioned by your own hope that everything will turn out all right." Her voice had slowly risen in volume to the point she was almost shouting. Ariadne had always remained strong but how could she hold up this strong façade when everything Phaedra said felt true.

A tear trailed down her cheek and splashed to the ground as her emotions over came her. The hurt she felt stung like a thousand suns and the ever present thought that her mother had done something terrible, that devastated her father and her family, drove her to this. Another tear fell from Ariadne's eyes and this time she wiped it off trying to compose herself once more.

"Oh I'm so sorry Ariadne. I didn't mean it, I didn't mean to hurt you." Phaedra engulfed her sister in a hug, as the girl let her tears fall freely. "It's okay. It's going to be all right. There is no need to worry," Phaedra murmured as she patted her sister's back. How could things have fallen apart so easily? It was as if the gods had taken an utter disliking to their family and laid endless trouble and difficulties in their path.

"I think we should ask him about it." Ariadne whispered when she had finally regained her composure. She dropped her arms to her side and Phaedra followed suit by clasping her arms behind her. "I'm worried about things, honestly."

Her sister nodded her head in response pretending that their argument and her tearful response did not just happen. Ariadne wanted to remain the strong figure, ever solid and so Phaedra pleased her by never bringing up her emotional breakdowns. They didn't happen often so it was easy to comply. Still Ariadne felt she needed to prove something being the second oldest and being the eldest female and she was thankful Phaedra never mentioned her crying fits.

The pair of them followed the familiar path to a small workshop at the far end of the palace. The surrounding rooms were empty, no one had used them for quite some time but the rooms still contained their unused furniture as if waiting for a visitor. Ariadne knocked on the oak door waiting for the answer. She was not disappointed Daedalus called back, "Come in, come in. I've been expecting you two."

"Hello Daedalus it's nice to see you two," Ariadne replied with a grin. She loped into the room, taking in the familiar sight of strewn inventions, unusual objects hanging from the ceiling and blue prints hanging haphazardly off tables. She smiled despite the circumstances of her appearance.

"I presume this is not one of your usual visits. What is it you want to know?" He asked bluntly and straight to the point. Ariadne turned to him, contemplating how she would word this, but Phaedra beat her too it. And she had a far better answer then she had planned.

"We are concerned about our mother. Since the fateful event has happened when she had fell for that snow white bull rumors have dogged her footsteps and the whole family," She paused thinking over the wording of the question that need be asked. "To better understand our mother's situation and in a way help her we would like you tell us what really happened."

The silence that consumed the room was not deathly, merely weighted down by anticipation and hesitation. Daedalus looked at the two princesses' earnest faces and he caved, but the frown on his face did not vanish. "I assume this is not all that you wish to know? I will not relinquish the information I know of your mother, and I do know much, for I did play an important role. But you must realize that you can not breath a word of this to anyone. First you must tell me your real question."

Ariadne nodded in response and so Phaedra asked a question again, "Asterion has been acting up again," She paused, contemplating the meaning of her words. "He does not eat the way he is supposed to. The servants continuously supply him with meat, but the beast is not satisfied. He prefers the taste of human flesh much better I hear. But this is not the end to the trouble. What our real question is what will father do with him?"

Daedalus sighed and looked at them both with a mournful expression. "There is something you must understand that though all of us are descended from Zeus himself the gods still look down on you as lesser beings." At this point Phaedra gave Ariadne a look, which she completely ignored. Instead she ground her teeth and asked Daedalus to tell their mother's story first. He responded with a grim smile and began.

"The trouble all started some time ago when the sovereignty of Crete was being disputed over. Your father, King Minos, asked Poseidon to send a sign of his true kingship. And the lord of the sea complied by sending a pure white bull, which came from the ocean itself. This ended the dispute and confirmed that Minos was in fact the true King of Crete. However for some reason unbeknownst to me your father did not sacrifice the bull to Poseidon and replaced it with another.

"This angered Poseidon greatly and in response he caused your mother Pasiphae to fall madly in love with the creature. And she wanted to, wanted to. . . never mind. For the conundrum on how to get close to this bull she asked for my help. For her I would do anything, she was my Queen and such a pleasant and intelligent woman. If I had known what would have happened I would have never obliged. But I did and I created a hollow wooden cow that not even the bull could tell was fake. And so her encounters your mother conceived Asterion the minotaur. You may be thinking that they should have done away with the creature at his birth, but your mother loved Asterion like she did her other children and Minos could not bear to kill him. He would do anything for her."

The two princesses sat motionless as they had when they had first heard of their half brother's existence, about his need for human flesh and how uncontrollable he had become. It was Ariadne that spoke up this time, "So this means father is not even going to consider killing him now? He won't even consider how much this jeopardizes the people of Crete not to mention his own children?"

"I am sorry Ariadne, but he will not. Not as long as Pasiphae remains his wife and his love. He cares too dearly about her. It is unusual that he will sacrifice the safety of his people and his family for such a monster, but he has come up with something to help. He has asked me to construct him a labyrinth to keep the monster from terrorizing the city."

"So in a way we are safe," Phaedra concluded with a grim expression. "But that does not explain about what he is going to do for the beast's meals." Daedalus' face turned grave and he refused to look at the pair of them. He instead busied himself with a heavily marked blue print spread over his desk.

"He's going to send in humans isn't he?" Ariadne whispered. Her voice betrayed fright, but she was not surprised. "They wouldn't be able to get out and its easier to feed him, unnecessary deaths wouldn't occur. But humans, why could they not lead in cows like they give him now?"

"Because," Phaedra muttered darkly. "He is never fully sated or happy without human flesh. Destruction to the city if they don't give him what he wants. He is becoming restless."

"Is this true?" Ariadne turned to Daedalus with a hopeful expression that he would tell her this is false and that they weren't going to use humans like she thought. Her face transformed almost instantly as he gave her a nod. She fell into a chair. It felt as if everything she believed in had been crushed and torn away. Was there no goodness in the world? Did the gods not offer forgiveness to those that cared deeply for them?

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A/N: I did go over this story, correcting it, but that doesn't mean its perfect. If you see any errors just tell me so I can fix them. On another note, this chapter is loads different from the original story, but I think this version has more potential and it still has relatively the same plot. If you really don't understand the importance of Phaedra then you can go to my profile and look at my stories to find two links about her that will describe her story. And do review, I appreciate what my readers think.


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